From developer Phung Games and games publisher Hidden Trap comes Jump, Step, Step, a new puzzle title for the Nintendo Switch. This game, selling at a slender £4.49, could be a little something different for puzzle nerds who might be interested in an old-school isometric brain-twister, but sadly Jump, Step, Step fails to take its intriguing game style to heights that really work.
Jump, Step, Step is a gorgeous and funny programming game with bonsai trees, a crazy robot and a broken rocket. Bob is short-circuited and goes mental. Please send him a series of moves to guide him back to his ship. Without your help Bob will probably tell himself to step on a spike and die…
Playing as this crazy little robot, Bob, you jump and step across these cuboid levels, picking up your body parts and bits and bats from a broken starship as you attempt to successfully...
Jump, Step, Step is a gorgeous and funny programming game with bonsai trees, a crazy robot and a broken rocket. Bob is short-circuited and goes mental. Please send him a series of moves to guide him back to his ship. Without your help Bob will probably tell himself to step on a spike and die…
Playing as this crazy little robot, Bob, you jump and step across these cuboid levels, picking up your body parts and bits and bats from a broken starship as you attempt to successfully...
- 3/18/2020
- by Chris Cummings
- Nerdly
“If you asked me five years ago to do a full original album with this band, I’d say, ‘Tear my heart out and leave it on the floor,'” Yacht Rock Revue singer Nick Niespodziani says.
It’s hard to tell if he’s being hyperbolic.
The 41-year-old frontman of the Atlanta-based tribute band has always been conflicted about his gum-chewing, polyester-wearing, hair-feathering throwback group. In his eyes, it was a way to make a living, not a serious creative outlet. Besides, he had other projects to flex that muscle,...
It’s hard to tell if he’s being hyperbolic.
The 41-year-old frontman of the Atlanta-based tribute band has always been conflicted about his gum-chewing, polyester-wearing, hair-feathering throwback group. In his eyes, it was a way to make a living, not a serious creative outlet. Besides, he had other projects to flex that muscle,...
- 2/28/2020
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Skiing in the Alps is possibly one of the most fun yet daring experiences you can do. Seeing the mountain ranges and skiing down slopes all while trying to not be caught out by an avalanche. However in “Downhill,” a couple will reevaluate everything after their near-death experience.
Read More: Sundance First Look: Will Ferrell & Julia Louis-Dreyfus In ‘Downhill,’ New Films By Brandon Cronenberg, Eliza Hittman & More
Directed by duo Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (“The Way Way Back”), they explore how a couple’s marriage (Will Ferrell from “Step Brothers” and Julia Louis-Dreyfus from “Veep”) could all be heading downhill after they both barely escape an avalanche in the mountains.
Continue reading ‘Downhill’ Trailer: Will Ferrell & Julia Louis-Dreyfus Narrowly Escape Avalanche In The American Remake Of ‘Force Majeure’ at The Playlist.
Read More: Sundance First Look: Will Ferrell & Julia Louis-Dreyfus In ‘Downhill,’ New Films By Brandon Cronenberg, Eliza Hittman & More
Directed by duo Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (“The Way Way Back”), they explore how a couple’s marriage (Will Ferrell from “Step Brothers” and Julia Louis-Dreyfus from “Veep”) could all be heading downhill after they both barely escape an avalanche in the mountains.
Continue reading ‘Downhill’ Trailer: Will Ferrell & Julia Louis-Dreyfus Narrowly Escape Avalanche In The American Remake Of ‘Force Majeure’ at The Playlist.
- 12/20/2019
- by Harry Frazer
- The Playlist
Delia Harrington Dec 20, 2019
Freeform's new supernatural series gets some stylized propaganda posters featuring its leads to show off some world-building
Freeform’s Motherland: Fort Salem has released propaganda-style posters from the upcoming speculative fiction series, which premieres in Spring of 2020. Set in an alternate reality where the witches of Salem made a deal to defend what would become the United States, the first season of the supernatural series follows three young women from basic training in combat magic into their early deployment.
The posters feature some of the witch characters from the series, including Raelle (played by Taylor Hickson), Tally (played by Jessica Sutton), and Abigail (played by Ashley Nicole Williams). The first poster shows Anacostia (played by Demetria McKinney). And the last poster is General Sarah Alder played by Lyne Renee.
Check them out...
As you can see from these images, in the world of Motherland, Us history...
Freeform's new supernatural series gets some stylized propaganda posters featuring its leads to show off some world-building
Freeform’s Motherland: Fort Salem has released propaganda-style posters from the upcoming speculative fiction series, which premieres in Spring of 2020. Set in an alternate reality where the witches of Salem made a deal to defend what would become the United States, the first season of the supernatural series follows three young women from basic training in combat magic into their early deployment.
The posters feature some of the witch characters from the series, including Raelle (played by Taylor Hickson), Tally (played by Jessica Sutton), and Abigail (played by Ashley Nicole Williams). The first poster shows Anacostia (played by Demetria McKinney). And the last poster is General Sarah Alder played by Lyne Renee.
Check them out...
As you can see from these images, in the world of Motherland, Us history...
- 12/19/2019
- Den of Geek
Will Ferrell‘s Saturday Night Live homecoming marked his fifth turn as host — but there was no mention of the esteemed Five-Timers Club during his “terrible” introduction. Instead, the beloved alumnus fawned over studio audience member Ryan Reynolds, and was eventually joined by former castmate Tracy Morgan. It was the best monologue of the still-young season, and one of the many highlights from this weekend’s above-average show (which admittedly got off to a rough start with that lazy, laugh-free cold open).
Surprisingly, Ferrell did not reprise any of his signature roles, like George W. Bush or Jeopardy host Alex Trebek.
Surprisingly, Ferrell did not reprise any of his signature roles, like George W. Bush or Jeopardy host Alex Trebek.
- 11/24/2019
- TVLine.com
Rabah Naït Oufella, Sofian Khammes and Antoine Reinartz lead the cast of this production by Les Films de Pierre, set to be sold by Playtime. As of Monday 9 September, Laurent Cantet – who won Cannes’ 2008 Palme d’Or with The Class - has been filming his 8th fictional cinematographic work, Arthur Rambo, which is billed as a reflection on social networks and the repercussions they have on our lives, told through the story of the rise and fall of a young Maghreb writer whom the whole of Paris goes crazy for. The film will also look into the themes of virtual identity and social division. Standing tall among the various cast members are Rabah Naït Oufella, Sofian Khammes (who was unearthed in Chouf, who later made an impression in Fast Convoy and The World is Yours, and who...
Has streaming service fatigue set in yet? WarnerMedia sure hopes not, seeing as the AT&T-owned conglomerate is launching its own streamer sometime next year — and it’s coming with a whole slew of original series.
To be sure, the subscription service (which may be called HBO Max) will already have an impressive library without originals. It will bundle HBO, Cinemax and a collection of Warner Bros. properties, and many of Warner Bros. legacy series — including The Big Bang Theory, Friends and Seinfeld — will eventually be available to stream. (Plus, WarnerMedia has reportedly expressed interest in potential revivals or reboots of classic Tgif sitcoms,...
To be sure, the subscription service (which may be called HBO Max) will already have an impressive library without originals. It will bundle HBO, Cinemax and a collection of Warner Bros. properties, and many of Warner Bros. legacy series — including The Big Bang Theory, Friends and Seinfeld — will eventually be available to stream. (Plus, WarnerMedia has reportedly expressed interest in potential revivals or reboots of classic Tgif sitcoms,...
- 7/7/2019
- TVLine.com
Nearly 10 million people saw Camille A. Brown’s work one night last year. Let that sink in. On a single evening – Easter Sunday 2018 – Brown’s choreography for NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert reached a number of viewers unimaginable in the dance, theater and concert halls of New York, and yet an accomplishment this year in one of those very theaters has made an impact quite possibly of equal or greater impact. Brown’s choreography for Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play-with-music Choir Boy has been nominated for a 2019 Tony Award.
This Sunday, Brown, one foot in theater and the other in the world of dance will vie for the Tony against Warren Carlyle, Denis Jones (Tootsie), David Neumann (Hadestown) and Sergio Trujillo (Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times...
This Sunday, Brown, one foot in theater and the other in the world of dance will vie for the Tony against Warren Carlyle, Denis Jones (Tootsie), David Neumann (Hadestown) and Sergio Trujillo (Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times...
- 6/6/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Ray Strache Upped To Evp Global Acquisitions & Co-Productions For 20th Century Fox & Fox Searchlight
Ray Strache has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Global Acquisitions and Co-Productions for 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight, it was announced today by Searchlight Presidents Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley, and Twentieth Century Fox Film’s President of International Distribution, Andrew Cripps.
In this new role, Strache expands his duties to include territory-specific opportunities for Tcf worldwide in addition to his existing role as head of Searchlight’s acquisitions department. He will continue adding to Searchlight’s acquisitions arena, his commercial and Oscar-lauded track record includes such pick-ups as Napoleon Dynamite, Little Miss Sunshine, Crazy Heart, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Brooklyn, Jackie, Step and Patti Cakes$. Strache will also continue to work closely with Fox Searchlight’s in-house production department to identify development content for Fox Searchlight’s cross-platform model.
Strache’s 20th Century Fox mandate calls for him to join with Cripps and local teams in...
In this new role, Strache expands his duties to include territory-specific opportunities for Tcf worldwide in addition to his existing role as head of Searchlight’s acquisitions department. He will continue adding to Searchlight’s acquisitions arena, his commercial and Oscar-lauded track record includes such pick-ups as Napoleon Dynamite, Little Miss Sunshine, Crazy Heart, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Brooklyn, Jackie, Step and Patti Cakes$. Strache will also continue to work closely with Fox Searchlight’s in-house production department to identify development content for Fox Searchlight’s cross-platform model.
Strache’s 20th Century Fox mandate calls for him to join with Cripps and local teams in...
- 5/2/2018
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Evidenced by closing-credits photographs and footage of the real athletes and adults involved, “The Miracle Season” could have worked powerfully as a documentary. But as a faith-based re-enactment of Iowa high school students rallying for a second championship volleyball season after suffering an unimaginable personal loss, Sean McNamara’s film barely qualifies as a story at all — except where dramatic license was conspicuously taken to make sure it adhered to almost every cliché in the sports-movie playbook.
Danika Yarosh (“Jack Reacher: Never Go Back”) plays Caroline “Line” Found, an effervescent, beloved, boundlessly energetic senior at Iowa City West High School. As captain of the women’s volleyball team, she led them to victory as a junior, and considers back-to-back championships an inevitable fulfillment of their athletic destiny, especially after dedicating their season to her ailing mother, Ellyn (Jillian Fargey, “Bates Motel”).
But when Line dies in a scooter accident the night after their first game, her best friend, Kelly (Erin Moriarty, “Captain Fantastic”), and the rest of the team are devastated, and not even Kathy “Coach Bres” Bresnahan (Helen Hunt), their stern, no-nonsense coach, can rekindle their love for the game.
Also Read: 'Mad About You': Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt in Talks for Revival Limited Series
Coach Bres eventually tasks Kelly with the responsibility of rallying her teammates, despite Kelly’s reservations over whether she can fill Line’s shoes as team captain. But after scoring their first victory, the team decides to dedicate its season to her and to follow through with their tribute by overcoming those early losses to win another state championship on her behalf.
Movies like are typically so saccharine that audiences end up with a cavity by the final scene, but the only way in which “The Miracle Season” distinguishes itself is by being so clean-cut and wholesome that it makes a Noxzema commercial seem gritty by comparison. (It features possibly the only scene in movie history where a group of otherwise unsupervised teenagers are actively disappointed that the only attending parent, who was performing magic, no less, decides to turn in for the night.)
Also Read: Marlee Matlin Accused William Hurt of Rape in 2010 Memoir
McNamara, who directed “Soul Surfer,” exerts a light touch on the spiritual themes — worry not, those of ye who are uncertain whether Line’s father, Ernie, played effortlessly by William Hurt, will reconcile with God after losing his daughter and his wife within two weeks of one another — but in this case, that’s a bad thing: There are no other themes to replace them, leaving only the wheezing machinery of a sports underdog story in which the team is comprised of title-winning athletes.
Portraying a real-life teenager, much less such a revered one as Found, was no doubt a challenge for Yarosh, but I’m not fully sure her “more is more” approach to the role turns the character’s charm offensive into actual charm. Moriarty, on the other hand, wrestles with more emotion than her co-star, but despite the appealing balance of reluctance and determination she brings to Kelly, she occasionally seems adrift in the formulaic adversity thrown into her path to make their journey seem not quite as predestined from the first frame.
Meanwhile, Hunt throws her all into the coach who learns how to feel again by coaching these grieving young women to victory, but Midwest mannerisms (like repeatedly calling Line, and later Kelly, “cap’n”) disrupt what never seems to settle into a consistent take on the character. Does Bres struggle with literally any emotion? Did Line’s death specifically affect her? Or is there an additional or other back story, hinted at in her opening scene, that we don’t know about?
And as Ernie, Hurt supplies unsurprising volumes of gravitas and vulnerability, but the work is all so simple and surface-level for a guy capable of such powerful depths that none of it resonates particularly deeply.
See Photos: 10 Highest Grossing Christian-Themed Movies, From 'Passion of the Christ' to 'War Room'
There’s also a love interest for Kelly, a hunky Anson Elgort type played by Burkely Duffield (“Warcraft”) who, in an almost refreshing reversal, has literally nothing to do except look good and blandly support his lady. But otherwise, the film isn’t interested in challenging conventional expectations, or much of anything else; last year’s nonfiction “Step,” by comparison, chronicled the adversity of a group of reigning champions with much more complexity, and consequently, emotional heft.
Ultimately, “The Miracle Season” mistakes an inspiring true story for one that needs or deserves to be told cinematically; it isn’t awful, but it’s not a film, it’s a tribute, and unfortunately, one to the memory of a young woman who would be better honored by people actually “living like Line” than watching a formulaic, fictionalized retelling of her community learning what that means.
Read original story ‘The Miracle Season’ Film Review: Volleyball Drama Serves Few Dramatic Spikes At TheWrap...
Danika Yarosh (“Jack Reacher: Never Go Back”) plays Caroline “Line” Found, an effervescent, beloved, boundlessly energetic senior at Iowa City West High School. As captain of the women’s volleyball team, she led them to victory as a junior, and considers back-to-back championships an inevitable fulfillment of their athletic destiny, especially after dedicating their season to her ailing mother, Ellyn (Jillian Fargey, “Bates Motel”).
But when Line dies in a scooter accident the night after their first game, her best friend, Kelly (Erin Moriarty, “Captain Fantastic”), and the rest of the team are devastated, and not even Kathy “Coach Bres” Bresnahan (Helen Hunt), their stern, no-nonsense coach, can rekindle their love for the game.
Also Read: 'Mad About You': Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt in Talks for Revival Limited Series
Coach Bres eventually tasks Kelly with the responsibility of rallying her teammates, despite Kelly’s reservations over whether she can fill Line’s shoes as team captain. But after scoring their first victory, the team decides to dedicate its season to her and to follow through with their tribute by overcoming those early losses to win another state championship on her behalf.
Movies like are typically so saccharine that audiences end up with a cavity by the final scene, but the only way in which “The Miracle Season” distinguishes itself is by being so clean-cut and wholesome that it makes a Noxzema commercial seem gritty by comparison. (It features possibly the only scene in movie history where a group of otherwise unsupervised teenagers are actively disappointed that the only attending parent, who was performing magic, no less, decides to turn in for the night.)
Also Read: Marlee Matlin Accused William Hurt of Rape in 2010 Memoir
McNamara, who directed “Soul Surfer,” exerts a light touch on the spiritual themes — worry not, those of ye who are uncertain whether Line’s father, Ernie, played effortlessly by William Hurt, will reconcile with God after losing his daughter and his wife within two weeks of one another — but in this case, that’s a bad thing: There are no other themes to replace them, leaving only the wheezing machinery of a sports underdog story in which the team is comprised of title-winning athletes.
Portraying a real-life teenager, much less such a revered one as Found, was no doubt a challenge for Yarosh, but I’m not fully sure her “more is more” approach to the role turns the character’s charm offensive into actual charm. Moriarty, on the other hand, wrestles with more emotion than her co-star, but despite the appealing balance of reluctance and determination she brings to Kelly, she occasionally seems adrift in the formulaic adversity thrown into her path to make their journey seem not quite as predestined from the first frame.
Meanwhile, Hunt throws her all into the coach who learns how to feel again by coaching these grieving young women to victory, but Midwest mannerisms (like repeatedly calling Line, and later Kelly, “cap’n”) disrupt what never seems to settle into a consistent take on the character. Does Bres struggle with literally any emotion? Did Line’s death specifically affect her? Or is there an additional or other back story, hinted at in her opening scene, that we don’t know about?
And as Ernie, Hurt supplies unsurprising volumes of gravitas and vulnerability, but the work is all so simple and surface-level for a guy capable of such powerful depths that none of it resonates particularly deeply.
See Photos: 10 Highest Grossing Christian-Themed Movies, From 'Passion of the Christ' to 'War Room'
There’s also a love interest for Kelly, a hunky Anson Elgort type played by Burkely Duffield (“Warcraft”) who, in an almost refreshing reversal, has literally nothing to do except look good and blandly support his lady. But otherwise, the film isn’t interested in challenging conventional expectations, or much of anything else; last year’s nonfiction “Step,” by comparison, chronicled the adversity of a group of reigning champions with much more complexity, and consequently, emotional heft.
Ultimately, “The Miracle Season” mistakes an inspiring true story for one that needs or deserves to be told cinematically; it isn’t awful, but it’s not a film, it’s a tribute, and unfortunately, one to the memory of a young woman who would be better honored by people actually “living like Line” than watching a formulaic, fictionalized retelling of her community learning what that means.
Read original story ‘The Miracle Season’ Film Review: Volleyball Drama Serves Few Dramatic Spikes At TheWrap...
- 4/5/2018
- by Todd Gilchrist
- The Wrap
Fresh from Fox Searchlight’s exuberant Oscar celebration for Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” (six wins) and Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (two wins), Sean Berney is leaving his post as director of acquisitions to join Netflix’s original films division. He will report to acquisitions head Matthew Brodlie, and will be part of the Netflix contingent in Cannes.
Joining Searchlight in 2015 just before Cannes, Berney worked closely with the team that acquired Pablo Larrain’s “Jackie,” Geremy Jasper’s “Patti Cake$,” Amanda Lipitz’s “Step,” and David Lowery’s upcoming “The Old Man and the Gun.”
After its stunning Oscar run, Searchlight is expected to make a smooth transition to new Fox owner Disney, which does not have a specialty distribution arm and might want a presence at the Oscars. However, that’s not guaranteed and the division’s trajectory remains unclear, which...
Joining Searchlight in 2015 just before Cannes, Berney worked closely with the team that acquired Pablo Larrain’s “Jackie,” Geremy Jasper’s “Patti Cake$,” Amanda Lipitz’s “Step,” and David Lowery’s upcoming “The Old Man and the Gun.”
After its stunning Oscar run, Searchlight is expected to make a smooth transition to new Fox owner Disney, which does not have a specialty distribution arm and might want a presence at the Oscars. However, that’s not guaranteed and the division’s trajectory remains unclear, which...
- 4/4/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Fresh from Fox Searchlight’s exuberant Oscar celebration for Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” (six wins) and Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (two wins), Sean Berney is leaving his post as director of acquisitions to join Netflix’s original films division. He will report to acquisitions head Matthew Brodlie, and will be part of the Netflix contingent in Cannes.
Joining Searchlight in 2015 just before Cannes, Berney worked closely with the team that acquired Pablo Larrain’s “Jackie,” Geremy Jasper’s “Patti Cake$,” Amanda Lipitz’s “Step,” and David Lowery’s upcoming “The Old Man and the Gun.”
After its stunning Oscar run, Searchlight is expected to make a smooth transition to new Fox owner Disney, which does not have a specialty distribution arm and might want a presence at the Oscars. However, that’s not guaranteed and the division’s trajectory remains unclear, which...
Joining Searchlight in 2015 just before Cannes, Berney worked closely with the team that acquired Pablo Larrain’s “Jackie,” Geremy Jasper’s “Patti Cake$,” Amanda Lipitz’s “Step,” and David Lowery’s upcoming “The Old Man and the Gun.”
After its stunning Oscar run, Searchlight is expected to make a smooth transition to new Fox owner Disney, which does not have a specialty distribution arm and might want a presence at the Oscars. However, that’s not guaranteed and the division’s trajectory remains unclear, which...
- 4/4/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The classic Team Ben vs. Team Noel debate is about to be reignited.
The cast of the seminal WB drama Felicity will reunite at this year’s Atx Festival, which takes place June 7-10 in Austin, Texas.
Series stars Keri Russell (Felicity), Scott Speedman (Ben), Tangi Miller (Elena), Amanda Foreman (Meghan), Amy Jo Johnson (Julie) and Ian Gomez (Javier) will be in attendance, along with director/producer Lawrence Trilling. Additional panelists will be announced at a later date.
The TV fest will also host a “TGIHulu!” panel featuring the following executive producers and cast members from ABC’s iconic ’90s...
The cast of the seminal WB drama Felicity will reunite at this year’s Atx Festival, which takes place June 7-10 in Austin, Texas.
Series stars Keri Russell (Felicity), Scott Speedman (Ben), Tangi Miller (Elena), Amanda Foreman (Meghan), Amy Jo Johnson (Julie) and Ian Gomez (Javier) will be in attendance, along with director/producer Lawrence Trilling. Additional panelists will be announced at a later date.
The TV fest will also host a “TGIHulu!” panel featuring the following executive producers and cast members from ABC’s iconic ’90s...
- 4/3/2018
- TVLine.com
Jon Frosch: Hi, team! Now that we’ve emerged from the slush and sleep deprivation of Sundance, let’s get down to it. Last year, the festival unfolded in the shadow of Trump’s depressing inauguration but distracted us with a pretty dazzling array of films: Call Me by Your Name, Get Out, God’s Own Country, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Quest, Step, Marjorie Prime, Ingrid Goes West and the list goes on. A few of those went on to become some of the most widely praised works of the year — and, not that it’s a reliable metric of quality, major awards contenders. And...
- 1/27/2018
- by Jon Frosch,Todd McCarthy,Leslie Felperin,David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The 2017 Sundance Film Festival provided one of the strongest markets on record. The box-office results, however, tell another story. While big buy “The Big Sick” was a big hit, second only to “Lady Bird” in the specialty marketplace, many smaller Sundance films remained just that: small, often earning less than their acquisition costs.
For some movies, small is a victory. Kogonada’s “Columbus,” which screened in the 2017 Next section, received the Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Fellowship grant to fund its inaugural self-distribution partnership. “Columbus” grossed more than $1 million — more than Fox Searchlight’s “Patti Cake$” ($9.5 million buy, less than $1 million domestic), and more than one might expect for a meditative romance set among the architecture of Columbus, Ind.
Three Sundance 2107 films — “Get Out” (Universal), “The Big Sick” (Amazon/Lionsgate) and “Wind River” (Weinstein) grossed over $250 million combined in domestic theaters. However, only “The Big Sick” came to Sundance without a distributor.
For some movies, small is a victory. Kogonada’s “Columbus,” which screened in the 2017 Next section, received the Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Fellowship grant to fund its inaugural self-distribution partnership. “Columbus” grossed more than $1 million — more than Fox Searchlight’s “Patti Cake$” ($9.5 million buy, less than $1 million domestic), and more than one might expect for a meditative romance set among the architecture of Columbus, Ind.
Three Sundance 2107 films — “Get Out” (Universal), “The Big Sick” (Amazon/Lionsgate) and “Wind River” (Weinstein) grossed over $250 million combined in domestic theaters. However, only “The Big Sick” came to Sundance without a distributor.
- 1/17/2018
- by Tom Brueggemann and Dana Harris
- Indiewire
A year ago, it seemed like a great time for documentaries. “I Am Not Your Negro,” Raoul Peck’s eviscerating look at race in America, was a cultural touchstone, reaching over 300 theaters across the country and earning over $7.4 million at the box office. At Sundance, buyers paid big money for nonfiction films like “Long Strange Trip” (Amazon, $6 million), “Icarus” (Netflix, $5 million), and “Step” (Fox Searchlight, $4 million), among others.
And then, one by one, big-ticket docs failed to live up to box-office expectations. “Step” earned just over $1.1 million; Sundance Grand Jury Prize doc winner “Dina” grossed only $90,503 after seven weeks in release; Oscar-nominated filmmaker Matthew Heineman’s highly acclaimed Syrian activist doc, “City of Ghosts,” made only $128,015; while other highly topical and critically lauded films, such as “Whose Streets?,” “The Force,” “Trophy,” and “Risk” failed to draw a significant audience.
Theatrical ticket sales don’t tell the whole story; many docs find audiences on streaming services.
And then, one by one, big-ticket docs failed to live up to box-office expectations. “Step” earned just over $1.1 million; Sundance Grand Jury Prize doc winner “Dina” grossed only $90,503 after seven weeks in release; Oscar-nominated filmmaker Matthew Heineman’s highly acclaimed Syrian activist doc, “City of Ghosts,” made only $128,015; while other highly topical and critically lauded films, such as “Whose Streets?,” “The Force,” “Trophy,” and “Risk” failed to draw a significant audience.
Theatrical ticket sales don’t tell the whole story; many docs find audiences on streaming services.
- 1/3/2018
- by Anthony Kaufman
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Lionsgate is planning an English-language remake of the Spanish-language hit Instructions Not Included. Set to direct is Amanda Lipitz, the Tony-winning producer whose first directing effort, Step, won a prize at the last Sundance Film Festival for Inspirational Filmmaking and sold for $4 million in a bidding battle to Fox Searchlight. Lipitz is producing with Scott Rudin a narrative version of that film for Searchlight. The Eugenio Derbez-directed original was…...
- 12/14/2017
- Deadline
The African American Film Critics Association has unveiled its picks for the top films and TV series of the year, bestowing Get Out with the award for best picture of 2017. Jordan Peele's horror-comedy also earned the awards for best directing, screenplay and actor (Daniel Kaluuya).
The world’s largest group of professional Black film critics also gave acting nods to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri's Frances McDormand, Last Flag Flying's Laurence Fishburne, Girls Trip's Tiffany Haddish and Crown Heights' Lakeith Stanfield. Gook, Coco, Detroit, Step and Mudbound were also among the recognized films. ABC's Black-ish and OWN's Queen Sugar were named the top TV...
The world’s largest group of professional Black film critics also gave acting nods to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri's Frances McDormand, Last Flag Flying's Laurence Fishburne, Girls Trip's Tiffany Haddish and Crown Heights' Lakeith Stanfield. Gook, Coco, Detroit, Step and Mudbound were also among the recognized films. ABC's Black-ish and OWN's Queen Sugar were named the top TV...
- 12/12/2017
- by Ashley Lee
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ documentary branch has advanced 15 films out of 170 submissions to vie for the final five Documentary Feature nominations.
As expected, Brett Morgan’s “Jane,” Agnes Varda and Jr’s “Faces Places,” two Syria non-fiction features, “Last Men in Aleppo” and “City of Ghosts,” two social action environmental documentaries, “An Inconvenient Sequel” and “Chasing Coral,” and timely Russian doping expose “Icarus” made the shortlist.
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary Feature
Netflix landed four films, including “Chasing Coral,” “Icarus,” “One of Us” and transgender filmmaker’s Yance Ford’s black lives matter documentary “Strong Island.” Amazon delivered Grateful Dead movie “Long Strange Trip,” which qualified even at four hours long, as well as “City of Ghosts” and Ai Weiwei’s immigration feature “Human Flow,” which was backed by Participant Media along with Paramount’s “An Inconvenient Sequel.”
Four features were directed or co-directed by women,...
As expected, Brett Morgan’s “Jane,” Agnes Varda and Jr’s “Faces Places,” two Syria non-fiction features, “Last Men in Aleppo” and “City of Ghosts,” two social action environmental documentaries, “An Inconvenient Sequel” and “Chasing Coral,” and timely Russian doping expose “Icarus” made the shortlist.
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary Feature
Netflix landed four films, including “Chasing Coral,” “Icarus,” “One of Us” and transgender filmmaker’s Yance Ford’s black lives matter documentary “Strong Island.” Amazon delivered Grateful Dead movie “Long Strange Trip,” which qualified even at four hours long, as well as “City of Ghosts” and Ai Weiwei’s immigration feature “Human Flow,” which was backed by Participant Media along with Paramount’s “An Inconvenient Sequel.”
Four features were directed or co-directed by women,...
- 12/8/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ documentary branch has advanced 15 films out of 170 submissions to vie for the final five Documentary Feature nominations.
As expected, Brett Morgan’s “Jane,” Agnes Varda and Jr’s “Faces Places,” two Syria non-fiction features, “Last Men in Aleppo” and “City of Ghosts,” two social action environmental documentaries, “An Inconvenient Sequel” and “Chasing Coral,” and timely Russian doping expose “Icarus” made the shortlist.
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary Feature
Netflix landed four films, including “Chasing Coral,” “Icarus,” “One of Us” and transgender filmmaker’s Yance Ford’s black lives matter documentary “Strong Island.” Amazon delivered Grateful Dead movie “Long Strange Trip,” which qualified even at four hours long, as well as “City of Ghosts” and Ai Weiwei’s immigration feature “Human Flow,” which was backed by Participant Media along with Paramount’s “An Inconvenient Sequel.”
Four features were directed or co-directed by women,...
As expected, Brett Morgan’s “Jane,” Agnes Varda and Jr’s “Faces Places,” two Syria non-fiction features, “Last Men in Aleppo” and “City of Ghosts,” two social action environmental documentaries, “An Inconvenient Sequel” and “Chasing Coral,” and timely Russian doping expose “Icarus” made the shortlist.
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary Feature
Netflix landed four films, including “Chasing Coral,” “Icarus,” “One of Us” and transgender filmmaker’s Yance Ford’s black lives matter documentary “Strong Island.” Amazon delivered Grateful Dead movie “Long Strange Trip,” which qualified even at four hours long, as well as “City of Ghosts” and Ai Weiwei’s immigration feature “Human Flow,” which was backed by Participant Media along with Paramount’s “An Inconvenient Sequel.”
Four features were directed or co-directed by women,...
- 12/8/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
A year ago Amanda Lipitz knew her documentary “Step” would be announced as part of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, but she could only dream the story of three young women from the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women would resonate with audiences in Park City. The film became a crowd favorite winning the Audience Award in the U.S. Documentary Category and was acquired by Fox Searchlight for an impressive $4 million.
Continue reading ‘Step’ Director Amanda Lipitz On The Journey Behind Her Acclaimed Sundance Doc [Podcast] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Step’ Director Amanda Lipitz On The Journey Behind Her Acclaimed Sundance Doc [Podcast] at The Playlist.
- 11/29/2017
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
‘Step’ Documentary Competes For Oscar Attention As Director Amanda Lipitz Plans Fictional Adaptation
Get Step director Amanda Lipitz talking about the girls at the heart of her film—exuberant members of the step dance team at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women—and she's liable to tear up. "I cry when I talk about them," she tells Deadline. "The girls give me such hope… Their mothers inspire me as a mother. They’re my family. I don’t know how to put into words how much they mean to me." The bond began forming almost a decade ago when Lipitz, a Tony…...
- 11/16/2017
- Deadline
At the San Francisco Film Society’s Doc Stories, Samantha Power — aka President Barack Obama’s U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations — is a true star. “What a crowd,” she tweeted after a rousing standing ovation for Greg Barker’s HBO documentary “The Final Year,” which features her as part of Obama’s foreign policy team. “Huge thanks to SFFilm Doc Stories & to an incredibly engaged San Francisco audience who saw @thefinalyeardoc not as a retrospective, but as a call to action.”
The third annual Doc Stories (Nov. 2-5) was a rich weekend of nonfiction features and shorts that launched with the world premiere of Alex Gibney’s “Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge, Part I” (HBO) and closed with Chris Smith’s “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton” (Netflix).
It’s part of Sffilm executive director Noah Cowan’s...
The third annual Doc Stories (Nov. 2-5) was a rich weekend of nonfiction features and shorts that launched with the world premiere of Alex Gibney’s “Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge, Part I” (HBO) and closed with Chris Smith’s “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton” (Netflix).
It’s part of Sffilm executive director Noah Cowan’s...
- 11/6/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
At the San Francisco Film Society’s Doc Stories, Samantha Power — aka President Barack Obama’s U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations — is a true star. “What a crowd,” she tweeted after a rousing standing ovation for Greg Barker’s HBO documentary “The Final Year,” which features her as part of Obama’s foreign policy team. “Huge thanks to SFFilm Doc Stories & to an incredibly engaged San Francisco audience who saw @thefinalyeardoc not as a retrospective, but as a call to action.”
The third annual Doc Stories (Nov. 2-5) was a rich weekend of nonfiction features and shorts that launched with the world premiere of Alex Gibney’s “Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge, Part I” (HBO) and closed with Chris Smith’s “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton” (Netflix).
It’s part of Sffilm executive director Noah Cowan’s...
The third annual Doc Stories (Nov. 2-5) was a rich weekend of nonfiction features and shorts that launched with the world premiere of Alex Gibney’s “Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge, Part I” (HBO) and closed with Chris Smith’s “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton” (Netflix).
It’s part of Sffilm executive director Noah Cowan’s...
- 11/6/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum (Sophie Bassaler)
When one conjures iconic memories from cinema history, they might be of your favorite shot or sequence, but my mind often travels to behind-the-scenes photos featuring director, cast, crew, and beyond. These photographs often have a unifying connection: they come from Magnum Photos. Since 1947, the photographic cooperative — founded by such iconic names as Robert Capa amd Henri Cartier-Bresson — has been responsible...
Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum (Sophie Bassaler)
When one conjures iconic memories from cinema history, they might be of your favorite shot or sequence, but my mind often travels to behind-the-scenes photos featuring director, cast, crew, and beyond. These photographs often have a unifying connection: they come from Magnum Photos. Since 1947, the photographic cooperative — founded by such iconic names as Robert Capa amd Henri Cartier-Bresson — has been responsible...
- 10/20/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
- 10/18/2017
- by Jazz Tangcay
- AwardsDaily.com
When Amanda Lipitz started making her Sundance sensation documentary “Step,” she began speaking with a group of inner-city Baltimore high school students before they entered high school. When the girls, who were forming a step team, were in 10th grade, she began filming interviews. When they entered 11th grade, she began filming them verite-style.
Then Freddie Gray was killed.
“I knew I had to throw out everything I’d shot until that point,” she said after a screening of the Michelle Obama–approved film at the International Documentary Association’s annual screening series.
Read More:‘Step’ Review: This Dance Documentary Uplifts The Girls, But Is a Better Story About Community — Sundance 2017
Instead of an exploration of the art of step dancing through the eyes of these girls, “Step” became more than that. It became an exploration of how the young women were able to process such a horrific event, how...
Then Freddie Gray was killed.
“I knew I had to throw out everything I’d shot until that point,” she said after a screening of the Michelle Obama–approved film at the International Documentary Association’s annual screening series.
Read More:‘Step’ Review: This Dance Documentary Uplifts The Girls, But Is a Better Story About Community — Sundance 2017
Instead of an exploration of the art of step dancing through the eyes of these girls, “Step” became more than that. It became an exploration of how the young women were able to process such a horrific event, how...
- 10/17/2017
- by Jean Bentley
- Indiewire
Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has announced its 15-film Short List of Oscar contenders along with its opening-night selection, “The Final Year,” in which Greg Barker follows key members of Barack Obama’s administration during their last year in office. The festival runs November 9-16.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for Tiff, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including four from Netflix — and none from HBO.
Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past four years, the Short List had nine to 10 titles overlap, with four or five titles going on to Oscar nominations. For the last six years, Doc NYC screened the documentary that...
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for Tiff, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including four from Netflix — and none from HBO.
Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past four years, the Short List had nine to 10 titles overlap, with four or five titles going on to Oscar nominations. For the last six years, Doc NYC screened the documentary that...
- 9/28/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has announced its 15-film Short List of Oscar contenders along with its opening-night selection, “The Final Year,” in which Greg Barker follows key members of Barack Obama’s administration during their last year in office. The festival runs November 9-16.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for Tiff, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including four from Netflix — and none from HBO.
Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past four years, the Short List had nine to 10 titles overlap, with four or five titles going on to Oscar nominations. For the last six years, Doc NYC screened the documentary that...
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for Tiff, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including four from Netflix — and none from HBO.
Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past four years, the Short List had nine to 10 titles overlap, with four or five titles going on to Oscar nominations. For the last six years, Doc NYC screened the documentary that...
- 9/28/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
MaryAnn’s quick take… Covers ground — the lives of black teen girls — that mostly goes unexamined onscreen. It couldn’t be fresher or more important. It’s also wildly entertaining. I’m “biast” (pro): I’m desperate for movies about girls and women
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Forget those silly Step Up movies. Even though they are set in the world of hip-hop street-dance competitions that are primarily an “urban” — read: black — phenomenon, they manage to focus almost entirely on white characters. Instead, here’s Step, which is literally the real thing. Hugely cheering and cheer-worthy, this documentary look at a high-school girls’ step team covers so much ground that unforgivably goes mostly unexamined onscreen: it couldn’t be fresher or more important. It’s also wildly entertaining while simultaneously enormously enlightening.
Movies about at-risk boys are plentiful.
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Forget those silly Step Up movies. Even though they are set in the world of hip-hop street-dance competitions that are primarily an “urban” — read: black — phenomenon, they manage to focus almost entirely on white characters. Instead, here’s Step, which is literally the real thing. Hugely cheering and cheer-worthy, this documentary look at a high-school girls’ step team covers so much ground that unforgivably goes mostly unexamined onscreen: it couldn’t be fresher or more important. It’s also wildly entertaining while simultaneously enormously enlightening.
Movies about at-risk boys are plentiful.
- 8/16/2017
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Girl Talk is a weekly look at women in film — past, present, and future.
Thank Patty Jenkins — and then thank all the other wonder women who lit up this summer at the box office. This summer, studios released only seven films directed by women (that’s including speciality arms, and even a co-directed production), but the massive success of Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman” is poised to push the total take of female-directed studio films over $1 billion.
Nothing sings quite like “a billion dollars” in Hollywood, but what’s even more heartening is the variety of films in this small group.
“Wonder Woman” is the story of the summer, an $800 million superhero that established Jenkins’ supremacy as director of the highest-grossing live-action movie directed by a woman and reestablished the solvency of the creatively stifled Dceu. It also made plain just how desperate audiences are for female-focused blockbusters. The film stayed in...
Thank Patty Jenkins — and then thank all the other wonder women who lit up this summer at the box office. This summer, studios released only seven films directed by women (that’s including speciality arms, and even a co-directed production), but the massive success of Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman” is poised to push the total take of female-directed studio films over $1 billion.
Nothing sings quite like “a billion dollars” in Hollywood, but what’s even more heartening is the variety of films in this small group.
“Wonder Woman” is the story of the summer, an $800 million superhero that established Jenkins’ supremacy as director of the highest-grossing live-action movie directed by a woman and reestablished the solvency of the creatively stifled Dceu. It also made plain just how desperate audiences are for female-focused blockbusters. The film stayed in...
- 8/11/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Tayla Solomon and the “Lethal Ladies of Blysw”. Photo by Jay L. Clendenin. Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures. © 2017 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved
The inspirational documentary Step follows a girls’ step dance team at a Baltimore charter high school, both in their quest to win a big step dance competition and to get into college.
The story takes place in 2015, the shadow of the unrest and protests that gripped Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray, and the documentary has echoes of Ferguson and Black Lives Matter as well. All of the girls in this documentary are African-American and low-income, but they are lucky in one way: their high school, which has a staff devoted to their success, Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women was founded in 2009 as a small girls-only high school with the mission to get every one of its low-income students into college.
Director...
The inspirational documentary Step follows a girls’ step dance team at a Baltimore charter high school, both in their quest to win a big step dance competition and to get into college.
The story takes place in 2015, the shadow of the unrest and protests that gripped Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray, and the documentary has echoes of Ferguson and Black Lives Matter as well. All of the girls in this documentary are African-American and low-income, but they are lucky in one way: their high school, which has a staff devoted to their success, Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women was founded in 2009 as a small girls-only high school with the mission to get every one of its low-income students into college.
Director...
- 8/11/2017
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Author: Linda Marric
Chronicling the senior year of an all-girl high school’s Step Dance team, Amanda Lipitz’s Step is without a doubt one of the most genuinely moving, inspirational and thoroughly entertaining films of the year. This thrilling debut documentary manages to carry an important socio-political message without ever being preachy, moralising or unnecessarily provocative. Set against a background of turmoil and the severe poverty of an inner-city Baltimore neighbourhood, the film shines a light on the struggles faced by a group of girls on the cusp of womanhood, hoping to be the first generation in their respective families to be accepted into college and hopefully go on to to fulfil their full potential.
Founded in 2009, The Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women aims to first and foremost help young underprivileged girls from African-American backgrounds prepare for college. With attentive tutoring and daily encouragement from their passionate teachers,...
Chronicling the senior year of an all-girl high school’s Step Dance team, Amanda Lipitz’s Step is without a doubt one of the most genuinely moving, inspirational and thoroughly entertaining films of the year. This thrilling debut documentary manages to carry an important socio-political message without ever being preachy, moralising or unnecessarily provocative. Set against a background of turmoil and the severe poverty of an inner-city Baltimore neighbourhood, the film shines a light on the struggles faced by a group of girls on the cusp of womanhood, hoping to be the first generation in their respective families to be accepted into college and hopefully go on to to fulfil their full potential.
Founded in 2009, The Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women aims to first and foremost help young underprivileged girls from African-American backgrounds prepare for college. With attentive tutoring and daily encouragement from their passionate teachers,...
- 8/8/2017
- by Linda Marric
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Amanda Lipitz's Step made a splash at the Sundance Film Festival in January when the documentary was being picked up for $4 million by Fox Searchlight, which also nabbed remake rights. Now the film opens this weekend at the specialty box office, which is pared down from last week's onslaught of platform heavy-hitters including An Inconvenient Sequel, Detroit and a surprising box office showing from Menashe. Also bowing this weekend is The Weinstein Company’s Wind…...
- 8/5/2017
- Deadline
Girl Talk is a weekly look at women in film — past, present, and future.
Like any filmmaker, Amanda Lipitz is eager for audiences to turn out for her latest project, the Sundance award-winning documentary “Step.” But Lipitz isn’t eyeing big box office bucks or pushing to topple a rival feature; she just wants the inspirational film to get in front of the people who will be most moved by it, even if they can’t afford the price of admission.
Bolstered by similar campaigns — including a popular push for last year’s “Hidden Figures” — Lipitz and her team think they’ve figured out a way to do just that.
The film, Lipitz’s first, centers on a girls-only step team from inner city Baltimore, and chronicles their senior year as they attempt to win one last big competition, prepare for their future, and face personal hurdles. Even in January,...
Like any filmmaker, Amanda Lipitz is eager for audiences to turn out for her latest project, the Sundance award-winning documentary “Step.” But Lipitz isn’t eyeing big box office bucks or pushing to topple a rival feature; she just wants the inspirational film to get in front of the people who will be most moved by it, even if they can’t afford the price of admission.
Bolstered by similar campaigns — including a popular push for last year’s “Hidden Figures” — Lipitz and her team think they’ve figured out a way to do just that.
The film, Lipitz’s first, centers on a girls-only step team from inner city Baltimore, and chronicles their senior year as they attempt to win one last big competition, prepare for their future, and face personal hurdles. Even in January,...
- 8/4/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The documentary Step profiles three members of a step dance team at the Baltimore Leadership School For Young Women, a small girls’ college-prep charter institution, as they go through their last year of school and prepare for a big annual step competition at Bowie State. There’s Tayla, the everyteen whose mom, a corrections officer, lives vicariously through her; Cori, the valedictorian of the senior class, who has her mind set on a full scholarship to Johns Hopkins; Blessin, the team’s founder and resident diva, who was kicked off the team last year because of her dismal Gpa. As for their teammates, we don’t as much as learn their names; Step’s first-time director, Amanda Lipitz, keeps the film as slick, flattering, and sound-bite-driven as a well-made fundraising video. Over and over, it pitches us reasons to care about these young women—an all-too-perfect example of a documentary...
- 8/2/2017
- by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
- avclub.com
“Step” looks like a dance film, but it’s really a rollercoaster ride about expectations, drive, and achievement. The weight in each rhythmic stomp produced by the young women featured in this movie isn’t just to produce a sound in glorious sync, but to signal a togetherness in an often-brutal world. Amanda Lipitz’s inspiring, Sundance award-winning documentary follows three African American teenage girls in Baltimore as they wend their way through a senior year in which they’re not just contenders for a statewide step dance crown, but also the first graduating class at an all-girls charter school designed with the express.
- 8/1/2017
- by Robert Abele
- The Wrap
The end of the summer movie season is upon us, which normally means a dry spell for studio releases, and while that indeed looks to be the case, this is one of the best months of the year if one digs a little deeper. From European getaways to redneck heists to dramas about riots and terrorism, there’s an abundance of appealing choices at the cinema this August. See our picks below and let us know what you’re most looking forward to.
Matinees: It’s Not Yet Dark (8/4), This Time Tomorrow (8/4), Icarus (8/4), Machines (8/9), After Love (8/9), In This Corner of the World (8/11), The Nile Hilton Incident (8/11), The Wound (8/16), Sidemen: Long Road to Glory (8/18), What Happened to Monday (8/18), Crown Heights (8/25), Death Note (8/25), The Villainess (8/25), and The Teacher (8/30)
15. Lemon (Janicza Bravo; Aug. 18)
Synopsis: A man watches his life unravel after he is left by his girlfriend of 10 years.
Trailer
Why You Should...
Matinees: It’s Not Yet Dark (8/4), This Time Tomorrow (8/4), Icarus (8/4), Machines (8/9), After Love (8/9), In This Corner of the World (8/11), The Nile Hilton Incident (8/11), The Wound (8/16), Sidemen: Long Road to Glory (8/18), What Happened to Monday (8/18), Crown Heights (8/25), Death Note (8/25), The Villainess (8/25), and The Teacher (8/30)
15. Lemon (Janicza Bravo; Aug. 18)
Synopsis: A man watches his life unravel after he is left by his girlfriend of 10 years.
Trailer
Why You Should...
- 8/1/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Getting out early can be an advantage in the documentary race, which is often front loaded at January’s Sundance Film Festival. While a raft of movies made their mark, the question is which ones can sustain support through the end of the year.
Among that festival’s breakouts were three Syria documentaries. Daring and timely “City of Ghosts” (July 14, A & E/Amazon Studios), which is Matthew Heineman’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated border drug war thriller “Cartel Land,” will get a major push. Any footage from Syria came from the fearless Raqqa journalists he tracked through Turkey and Germany, where they discover that they are not necessarily safe — anywhere.
It remains to be seen if there will be room for more than one Syrian documentary. HBO Documentary Films is forgoing Emmy consideration for “Winter on Fire” nominee Evgeny Afineevsky’s harrowing “Cries From Syria” (March 10, HBO), planning an Oscar push this fall.
Among that festival’s breakouts were three Syria documentaries. Daring and timely “City of Ghosts” (July 14, A & E/Amazon Studios), which is Matthew Heineman’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated border drug war thriller “Cartel Land,” will get a major push. Any footage from Syria came from the fearless Raqqa journalists he tracked through Turkey and Germany, where they discover that they are not necessarily safe — anywhere.
It remains to be seen if there will be room for more than one Syrian documentary. HBO Documentary Films is forgoing Emmy consideration for “Winter on Fire” nominee Evgeny Afineevsky’s harrowing “Cries From Syria” (March 10, HBO), planning an Oscar push this fall.
- 7/5/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
One of the most inspirational films at Sundance this year — so much so it won a specific Jury Award for Inspirational Filmmaking in its U.S. Documentary section — was Amanda Lipitz‘s Step. Following an inner-city, all-girls step dance team in Baltimore as they challenge themselves both on stage and off, they are empowered by their community and bond through the art of dance. Ahead of a release this August from Fox Searchlight, we’re pleased to debut a set of new stills showing the group in action.
“Step, like many documentaries, uses a sport as an entry point to a larger discussion about race, the struggles of those on the lower end of the income spectrum, and the challenges of being a single parent and inner-city life,” we said our review. “It’s a film that is as inspiring as its subjects and may very well encourage those that see it to visit their guidance counselor for advice on their options even if, like Blessing, they may not have the grades nor the family support.”
Check out the exclusive stills above and below, as well as a new featurette, and see the trailer here.
Step is the true-life story of a girls’ high-school step team set against the background of the heart of Baltimore. These young women learn to laugh, love and thrive – on and off the stage – even when the world seems to work against them. Empowered by their teachers, teammates, counselors, coaches and families, they chase their ultimate dreams: to win a step championship and to be accepted into college.
This all female school is reshaping the futures of its students’ lives by making it their goal to have every member of their senior class accepted to and graduate from college, many of whom will be the first in their family to do so. Deeply insightful and emotionally inspiring, Step embodies the true meaning of sisterhood through a story of courageous young women worth cheering for.
Step opens on August 4.
“Step, like many documentaries, uses a sport as an entry point to a larger discussion about race, the struggles of those on the lower end of the income spectrum, and the challenges of being a single parent and inner-city life,” we said our review. “It’s a film that is as inspiring as its subjects and may very well encourage those that see it to visit their guidance counselor for advice on their options even if, like Blessing, they may not have the grades nor the family support.”
Check out the exclusive stills above and below, as well as a new featurette, and see the trailer here.
Step is the true-life story of a girls’ high-school step team set against the background of the heart of Baltimore. These young women learn to laugh, love and thrive – on and off the stage – even when the world seems to work against them. Empowered by their teachers, teammates, counselors, coaches and families, they chase their ultimate dreams: to win a step championship and to be accepted into college.
This all female school is reshaping the futures of its students’ lives by making it their goal to have every member of their senior class accepted to and graduate from college, many of whom will be the first in their family to do so. Deeply insightful and emotionally inspiring, Step embodies the true meaning of sisterhood through a story of courageous young women worth cheering for.
Step opens on August 4.
- 6/21/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
15th Edition of AFI Docs presents audience awards.
Amanda Lipitz’s Step has won the AFI Docs Audience Award for Best Feature.
The selection premiered at Sundance and follows the Lethal Ladies step dance team from the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women in their bid to win the city’s dance competition and become the first women in their families to attend college.
Fox Searchlight paid in the region of $4m for worldwide rights following the world premiere in Park City in January and will release the crowd-pleasing documentary (pictured) later this year.
The award for best short went to Charlie Lyne’s Fish Story, which investigates a mysterious gathering rumoured to have taken place in 1980s Wales when an unlikely group of people with one thing in common came together.
The festival ran from June 14-18 and presented 112 films from 28 countries on subjects ranging from the environment and sports to politics and art.
Six films with...
Amanda Lipitz’s Step has won the AFI Docs Audience Award for Best Feature.
The selection premiered at Sundance and follows the Lethal Ladies step dance team from the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women in their bid to win the city’s dance competition and become the first women in their families to attend college.
Fox Searchlight paid in the region of $4m for worldwide rights following the world premiere in Park City in January and will release the crowd-pleasing documentary (pictured) later this year.
The award for best short went to Charlie Lyne’s Fish Story, which investigates a mysterious gathering rumoured to have taken place in 1980s Wales when an unlikely group of people with one thing in common came together.
The festival ran from June 14-18 and presented 112 films from 28 countries on subjects ranging from the environment and sports to politics and art.
Six films with...
- 6/19/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
"Strong women together are unstoppable." Fox Searchlight has released a new featurette for the fantastic documentary Step, profiling a step dance group at a school in Baltimore. This doc premiered at Sundance to rave reviews, and was one of the audience's favorites. It's one of the most energetic, inspiring, exciting documentaries I've seen this year and I highly recommend it. This featurette is more of an introduction to "step" and what it is, and where it came from, and why it's so important to these women. If you haven't seen the official trailer, you can check it out here after watching this promo below. Here's to hoping Searchlight can build up buzz and turn this doc into a big hit in theaters. It definitely has my support! Check this out. Here's the new "Step is Life" featurette for Amanda Lipitz's documentary Step, direct from YouTube: You can also still...
- 6/16/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
This week, IndieWire will be rolling out our annual Summer Preview, including offerings that span genres, a look at the various trends driving the box office, and special attention to all the new movies you need to get through a jam-packed summer movie-going season. Check back throughout the week for a new look at the best the season has to offer, and clear your schedule, because we’re going to fill it right up.
Today — a selection of features directed (or co-directed) by female filmmakers to get excited about seeing, including works from rising stars, indie favorites and one of Hollywood’s most lauded directors.
Read More: IndieWire’s Complete 2017 Summer Preview
“Wonder Woman,” June 2
It’s a big year for the darkness-loving (and scenery-chewing) DC Universe, but before we plunge back into what terrible delights Zack Snyder and co. have cooked up for their “Justice League,” we’ve got to go back,...
Today — a selection of features directed (or co-directed) by female filmmakers to get excited about seeing, including works from rising stars, indie favorites and one of Hollywood’s most lauded directors.
Read More: IndieWire’s Complete 2017 Summer Preview
“Wonder Woman,” June 2
It’s a big year for the darkness-loving (and scenery-chewing) DC Universe, but before we plunge back into what terrible delights Zack Snyder and co. have cooked up for their “Justice League,” we’ve got to go back,...
- 4/27/2017
- by Chris O'Falt, David Ehrlich, Graham Winfrey, Jude Dry and Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
You could call it the “Netflix effect.” With the rise of the global VOD giant and its increasingly voracious appetite for nonfiction films, the documentary industry is anticipating a busy spring season at the Tribeca Film Festival and Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival and marketplace.
But it’s not just Netflix, say industry insiders. The number of active buyers for documentary films suggests there’s an enthusiasm for independent nonfiction cinema that goes beyond the VOD giant.
On the eve of Tribeca, three high-profile documentaries have already found buyers: National Geographic acquired the coal-mining expose “From the Ashes,” and Gravitas Ventures bought theatrical and streaming rights to two films already partnering with CNN Films: “Elian,” the story of Cuban child émigré Elian Gonzalez, and Impact Partners’ “The Reagan Show,” a freshly relevant archival-driven doc about the staging of the former President.
Read More: Netflix’s Big New...
But it’s not just Netflix, say industry insiders. The number of active buyers for documentary films suggests there’s an enthusiasm for independent nonfiction cinema that goes beyond the VOD giant.
On the eve of Tribeca, three high-profile documentaries have already found buyers: National Geographic acquired the coal-mining expose “From the Ashes,” and Gravitas Ventures bought theatrical and streaming rights to two films already partnering with CNN Films: “Elian,” the story of Cuban child émigré Elian Gonzalez, and Impact Partners’ “The Reagan Show,” a freshly relevant archival-driven doc about the staging of the former President.
Read More: Netflix’s Big New...
- 4/18/2017
- by Anthony Kaufman
- Indiewire
A rhythmic and rousing first trailer has arrived for Step, the Sundance documentary that follows an inner-city, all-girls step dance team in Baltimore. As they challenge themselves both on stage and off, they are empowered by their community and bond through the art of dance. Through their energetic moves and a undying strength off stage, Amanda Lipitz‘s Step tells the story of a group of powerful women overcoming the obstacles of life, and kicking some ass on the dance floor.
We said in our review, “Step, like many documentaries, uses a sport as an entry point to a larger discussion about race, the struggles of those on the lower end of the income spectrum, and the challenges of being a single parent and intercity life. It’s a film that is as inspiring as its subjects and may very well encourage those that see it to visit their guidance...
We said in our review, “Step, like many documentaries, uses a sport as an entry point to a larger discussion about race, the struggles of those on the lower end of the income spectrum, and the challenges of being a single parent and intercity life. It’s a film that is as inspiring as its subjects and may very well encourage those that see it to visit their guidance...
- 4/15/2017
- by Mike Mazzanti
- The Film Stage
“Making music with our bodies” is how one of the high-school step dancers describes her group in this trailer for Fox Searchlight’s Step, and that’s as good a summary as any. Amanda Lipitz’s documentary, acquired by Fox Searchlight at the Sundance Film Festival, chronicles the senior year of a girls' high-school step dance team against the background of inner-city Baltimore. Each girl tries to become the first in her family to attend college. Produced by Lipitz and Steven…...
- 4/13/2017
- Deadline
Amanda Lipitz’s “Step,” which won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Inspirational Filmmaking at Sundance 2017, follows a group of young women determined to be the first in their families to go to college. Set in Baltimore, these young women use their high school step team, Lethal Ladies, as an expressive outlet to cope with the hardships of home life and pressures of school work.
‘Read More: ‘Step’ Review: This Dance Documentary Uplifts The Girls, But Is a Better Story About Community — Sundance 2017
“Step” illustrates the determination of these young women. After seeing the film at Sundance, Fox Searchlight acquired “Step” for roughly $4 million. The film is scheduled for release on August 4, and Searchlight plans a feature adaptation.
To catch a glimpse of these young women, check out the trailer for “Step” below:
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‘Read More: ‘Step’ Review: This Dance Documentary Uplifts The Girls, But Is a Better Story About Community — Sundance 2017
“Step” illustrates the determination of these young women. After seeing the film at Sundance, Fox Searchlight acquired “Step” for roughly $4 million. The film is scheduled for release on August 4, and Searchlight plans a feature adaptation.
To catch a glimpse of these young women, check out the trailer for “Step” below:
Stay on top of the latest TV news! Sign up for our TV email newsletter here.
- 4/13/2017
- by Kerry Levielle
- Indiewire
Making its world premiere in the U.S. Documentary Competition section at the Sundance Film Festival this year, Fox Searchlight paid a reported $4 million for the crowd-pleasing documentary “Step,” from director Amanda Lipitz. The film chronicles the senior year of a… Continue Reading →...
- 4/13/2017
- by shadowandact
- ShadowAndAct
While there has been no shortage of movies that sell the notion that dance is transformative, sometimes you need a documentary that takes you into the lives of performers to really feel that connection. And at the Sundance Film Festival this year, “Step” communicated with Special Jury Prize winning results how movements of the body could also move the heart.
Directed by Amanda Lipitz, making her debut, the film takes viewers to Baltimore, into the senior year of a high-school dance team.
Continue reading Feel The Rhythm In First Trailer For Sundance Documentary Winner ‘Step’ at The Playlist.
Directed by Amanda Lipitz, making her debut, the film takes viewers to Baltimore, into the senior year of a high-school dance team.
Continue reading Feel The Rhythm In First Trailer For Sundance Documentary Winner ‘Step’ at The Playlist.
- 4/13/2017
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
"We makin' music with our bodies!" Fox Searchlight has revealed the first official trailer for an outstanding documentary titled Step, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year where it received rave reviews from critics and audiences. The film follows a few different teenage women at a special high school in Baltimore, Maryland who are part of the prestigious step dance program. The school is designed to help them get into college, many of them being the first in their family to attend, and it shows how step dancing is a way for them to come together and focus on what maters - expressing themselves creatively. I caught this film at Sundance and really, really loved it. It's exciting, and energetic, and inspiring, and moving, with just the right balance of heart and honesty. I will be strongly supporting it throughout this year. See below. Here's the first official...
- 4/12/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
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